Paddling Alligator Creek

From panning....to paddling. We are back in Florida- Punta Gorda above Ft. Myers on the Gulf Coast side. This is one of our favorite stopping points when we are back "home." The creek has excellent paddling, fishing and site seeing. As you would expect from the name- it's not too good for swimming. We routinely see alligators from 2 feet to closer to 10. I don't mind some daytime wading to throw the cast net, but ain't nobody gonna get me in any deeper than that- and even then I keep an eye on my surroundings.

Once again, the pictures pretty much tell the story. I put a few captions to watch for in the slide show so you can see what we're trying to point out along the way:

North Carolina Smiley Face Gold Report

It's hot on the Gulf Coast of Florida here at Punta Gorda where we have arrived to begin our Florida visit. But the "cool" report from the North Carolina Vein Mountain outing can now be given- at least in preliminary form. Pretty much we're gonna let the pictures tell the story. Two small (and very thin) nuggets, not included in the weight,......and a "smiley face" of "fines and dust" that weighed in at 1.8 pennyweight- not bad at all for NC and 10 days of work!

Oh, and Mr. and Mrs. Haught- I don't want to hear a word from you right now about Idaho gold! :-)





This dad gummed gold is so fine! How fine is it, Greg? It's so fine that even after I was very, very careful cleaning up, I started to notice gold particles all over my computer key pad as I typed this report with the sunlight streaming through the window next to my desk! Sticky Fingers 101.

There will be additional gold to add to this year's take, but that will have to wait for further work at the "amalgamation" process!

The Panning Of The Boots

We ventured back to Vein Mountain LDMA Camp in North Carolina for the Fall 2010 outing. It's the smaller of their two annual outings and we like it extremely well. The caretakers of the property, John and Abi, are first class individuals and they go over and above to make the attendees feel welcome and help them be as successful as possible. After all, camaraderie is one thing; gold is another!

This year's weather was outstanding. Comfortable and dry day times and crisply cool nights- they call it "good sleeping weather." A bit of frost makes the early morning rather spectacular around the warmer waters of the settling ponds.
There is one drawback from getting started too early- the wet gloves from the day before are are still frozen stiff. In this photo, Marilyn does her "thawing" procedure.

For outings, the organization compiles "dirt" from a location on the property. This year the dirt came from the diggings next to what we used to call "Long Pond." Actually, it was just a hole from a previous dig that had filled with water. But it turned out that this years dirt was another in the series of "good looking materials", and in fact was some of the hottest material anyone around camp could remember processing. Translation- even though NC gold is almost always extremely fine, this time there was more of it than ever before.

We don't have the final tabulations, weights and measure of the gold ready at this point. We reduced our concentrates down as far as possible to take with us without the extreme weight of the five gallon buckets full of "heavies.", but still have the final separation of the gold from the black sand yet to do. Drying. Weighing. Soon! As I write this we are enroute back to Florida for our annual check ups and the usual. Looking forward to another Thanksgiving on the Beach.

Here's a look at us taking turns on the amalgamation equipment at the camp to work down our "cons." I should qualify the term "amalgamation." It refers to the practice of separating gold and silver from other minerals by combining it with mercury. It was common practice at one time and is generally frowned upon today for environmental concerns- although there ARE safe practices for handling it and using it even today. This piece of equipment has been converted to a rubber rib reclamation process- so no mercury, no copper is used in the process as it was when this equipment was in commercial use at the mine here a long time ago. It's an antique- but it works superbly and was lots of fun for us to test drive.


We spent a most wonderful two weeks here this Fall, made a bonfire when packing to celebrate our stay....
and then....and then....we held our gold camp parting ritual- "the panning of the boots!" To accomplish this we knock off all the mud and dirt remaining on our boots after our last run through the high banker...and then pan it out. Why? Because a long time back a guy told us that after walking around in gold containing dirt all day, he always "panned out his boots" at the end of the day to see if there was any gold in the material, and much to his surprise there often was. Not lots, just a speck or two - but it's the principle of the thing. Sounded like a good thing to do just for fun and so we tried it and.....yes, we found gold too. So now I always try to remember to test the boots at the end of our tour at a prospecting site. This time nothing doing, but, hey, I tried. I'll bet ya a candy bar though that when we clean out the van in Florida and I pan that dirt I will find a speck or two....just saying!

I'll post a picture of our "clean up" as soon as we have it ready. Hoping for the Smiley Face!

Lifting The Roof Off The House

Far too many times Marilyn and I have had to honker down in a windstorm named Hurricane. It's not fun at all, although I can't say there isn't some extreme exhilaration associated with it. And of primary concern is whether or not the roof of your precious home will in fact stay attached to the rest of the house. And subsequently whether you will be able to remain inside the place should the roof get ripped off. So it was with great interest that we waded feet first into the Log and Timber Home Expo- where taking the roof off (the models on display) is one of the best ways to get a look inside the offerings of the many different home types and company products being shown.

This Expo is held just outside Washington, DC. Chantilly, Virginia to be specific, and this is one of the largest such shows in the country. We've seen a lot of log cabins on our travels about the country and admittedly are drawn to them. They're casual. They're comfortable. They're rugged. And by tweaking the design a bit they can be made to "fit in" just about anywhere with reasonable parameters, of course. I've done a wee bit of building and tinkering on other types of homes we have lived in, but the only most minute experience I've had with log cabin construction has been as Mr. Mike's helper at Chicken Gold Camp in Alaska when he was putting up a 12 X 12 (or there abouts) primitive cabin to serve as a museum addition to the gold camp property. It was a fascinating experience for me. The building went up very fast with minimal hassle. The rapid progess was its own reward and it didn't seem all that difficult a structure to build. We were ready for the ridge pole installation when the season came to a close and I was sad to leave without seeing the whole process through, but it starting me thinking more directly along the lines of building the real deal at some point....and so here we are. Planning and what-iffing only for now. Manufacturers and contractors would all like to know where we intend to build. Good question! For now there is no answer---but it is always important to define the questions before they need an answer anyhow. And when might you build? Another good one! We are in the 5th year of a 5 year plan. The other 5 year plans all began and ended pretty close to their appointed deadline , but this traveling thing has worked out really well and is a lot of fun. Why ruin a good thing?..... he asked rhetorically. There are still places to go and things to see (and, yes, gold in them thar hills). But it would seem that sooner or later the need for roots and a life a bit more predictable will reassert itself. And then, as they say, we shall see what we shall see. For now, the investigation of the next somewhere-down-the-road-five-year-plan is quite fun as a stand alone project. We are learning things we might otherwise not ever have known we needed to know. (Huh?) Knowledge is good. Experience is good. Put the two together and ya might actually have something!

Farewell...and Hello Again

It's been too long. Too long since I posted anything for you. And too long since I posted anything for us. It's not that we haven't been busy. In fact we have been nearly too busy. But busy with family matters and family business - the type of things that are very important and must be accomplished, but not really the kind of thing you share, at least on the surface. Not matters of adventure. Not matters of the heart and soul. Rather - matters of fact. And while I thought about writing nearly every day, there never seemed to be enough time or enough will to get it done. And so it didn't---get done, that is.

Tonight I'm writing just really to say we are back in travel mode. The big tire version of the road trip has resumed and we find ourselves in Chantilly, Virginia to take in the three day Log and Timber Home Expo. And yes we know that neither of those terra firma type homes have wheels, and, no, we're not hanging it up at this point- not to worry, those of you who travel with us in spirit and via the blog. The weather is pleasant here- 60's and 70's daytime and 40's night time. The summer of this year's cycle left us in its dust, true, but the cool of the Fall has us revving up in search of shelter from the coming winter storms.

We had more than our share of death to contend with for one year to be sure. Please, God, no more! But we've also had more than our share of love and support for getting through it, and so we have. So when Marilyn's Uncle Vinnie passed away up on Cape Cod before we left the Reading, Pennsylvania area, we put the departure plans on hold a moment and took the van up to the Cape for several days to pay our respects. Those of you who have "traveled" with us for a long time will no doubt recall the many references to our Cosmic Cousin Companions, with whom we have shared many a wonderful adventure on the road. They are family. They are important to us. Two of the "cosmics," as we call them, are the children of Uncle Vin and we feel very blessed to have been within driving range of being able to make the services in order to support them in whatever small way we could. And beautiful services they were. A graveside military honor with live fire and taps is a very moving experience. A seaside procession and memorial mass at East Falmouth on a faultless day weather-wise seemed most serene considering why we all needed to be there. For me, it was a bit surreal to see another family going through what mine has just been through. But like all our experiences in life, we bundle what we see and think and feel and reflect upon into the fabric of our being, and Yes, Virgina, we are made stronger, in due time, by all the things that don't "kill us" as the old adage goes.....

Before returning from the Cape, and after all the services had concluded, Marilyn and I took our final evening there to drive back out to the coast for sunset. The sunset marks the end of only one day, but at times it certainly seems to be a metaphor for an episode of our lives. Hopefully, this can be just such an episode fading into the sunset. Farewell to my dad. Farewell to Abby. Farewell to Uncle Vin. Hello- open road!

Prospecting Crawford Notch

Getting ready to head out once again for the jaunt back to Pennsylvania. With the weather pattern starting to deteriorate just in time for the two day trip, we did the majority of reorganizing a couple days early, then headed out to make a final exploration of the region by visiting the Crawford Notch State Park. We packed a picnic lunch so by golly we ate a picnic lunch but we had to do it at a picnic table lakeside in what seemed like the windstorm of the decade. In truth, the wind is often heavy blowing down through the notch, which is, incidentally, very near Mt. Washington; known for its brutal weather patterns and impromptu rapid changes, I suppose we should have been ready for the wind in proximity to the mountain, but it had been quite nice back at camp on the Saco, so we really had not thought that much about heavier clothing and so on. Next time.

It was first and foremost just a day in the sunshine and the fresh air and breathing in the mountains before leaving them behind for the time being. But we checked the GPAA Miner's Guide and realized there was a possibility of locating some fine placer gold in the Swift River that flows through the White Mountain National Park not too far from the notch. Not ones to pass up a crack at the gold, we made sure we had our pans (the only equipment allowed in the park) along with us. We tried off and on for an hour or two to find some "hot" gravel.....BUT, good thing we had our "first and foremost" priorities straight- because fresh air and dynamite scenery was all we were able to locate for this outing. Too bad! Because some of the crevices in the bedrock looked mighty promising. New Hampshire remains in the "loss" column for those states where we have tried and failed to locate gold. Our long term goal of finding gold in all 49 of the continental states will not get a "notch" on the old gold pan from Crawford Notch for now.

Rafting: Yes. White Water: No

We're back in New Hampshire. Call it R&R if you will. It won't be "enough" but it sure feels nice. The Saco River Camping Area campground that we are staying at is a family run business situated right on the banks of the Saco River. It is well run which we thoroughly appreciate, not to mention the size of the sites which are monumentally huge in comparison to many, especially in New England. Back in the days when we ran businesses in Maine, and when we could get away, we routinely drove over here for long weekends canoeing and camping on the sandbars of the Saco. It's a marvelous river for that sort of thing: there's a sand or gravel bar at nearly every bend in the river, perfect for camping, fishing, picnicking, swimming, or just stretching one's legs after paddling with the current for a while. There is the occasional "rip" but nothing that you would call a "rapid". Class one (or maybe zero) water- not Class Four, or worse, the un-navigable Class Five. In short, white water it ain't.

You will see canoes on the river. You will see kayaks. You will see rafts. You will see inner tubes, and air mattresses, and other home-made floating devices, some of which have an inflatable beer cooler in tow. Fun for one, fun for two, fun for the whole family. Party central, waterside.

A word to the wise if you come here to have a go at it. DO, by all means, do the life jacket thing with kids and non swimmers. Meandering rivers, no matter how tame and shallow and harmless looking, especially those ones that bend and wind their way along and have downed trees and branches here and there, harbor much more power and potential danger than you would assume, and for sure more than you can see by looking at the surface. We have paddled this river many times before, and in fact we paddled against the current upstream 2 1/2 miles just the other day. True, everyone told us we were paddling in the wrong direction- but it gave us a chance to "warm up" and it gave us a chance to scout some of the trickier spots without the force of the down stream current creating a problem. Good thing we did that, because when we did make a 6 hour paddle/float downstream yesterday, there were a number of inexperienced families in rented kayaks who got into way more trouble than they had bargained for, with one of the daughters tipping and getting sucked under a downed tree trunk in swift current. Between her dad, who had also capsized, and the two of us, we managed to get her out- but none too soon, as her paddle had been wedged up against her throat under water (only her head was above water-line) and she was not able to breath. She was rattled, but fine and was able to continue on no harm done, but lesson well learned. Life jackets are not for when you think you need them- they are for when you think you don't!

Plenty to see along the river and in the always crystal clear water. We saw literally hundreds of trout- many of them a really nice size. Ducks. Geese. The occasional otter. Train trestles. Mountains. Even a quick glimpse of one hole of a golf course that barely touches the bank at one quick bend in the river.

As for our two person flotilla, we had a blast. Veterans of the Saco that we are, we had our shore lunch ready to roast over an open fire on a sand bar at the halfway point. The smell of a small campfire with hot dogs slowly turning on the home styled rotisserie forks made all the passers by on the river call out if there was enough to go around. Yes. But please- no. And by the way, mind if I take your picture as you drift on by...............

Still Chilling in Maine

Still laying a bit low and trying to recoup from things. Meanwhile we took a trip out Bar Harbor way and visited Acadia national park for about the "umpteenth" time in our lives. It's a beautiful spot at all times of the year and in all types of weather. This visit found us with plenty of sunshine and visibility although as it almost always does, a fog bank or two came rolling by.....


On another day we visited again with Dickie and Sarah who fired up the pizza oven that Dick built in his back yard just off the deck. We roasted the ingredients for the pizza first, then applied them to the top of the special dough for baking. Meanwhile we roasted some blue mussels in wine and garlic and "tasted on them." Talk about fast cooking time! With temps in the stove at over 750 degrees, everything cooks in mere minutes- literally. The time to prepare the meal is in the firing of the oven, not in the cooking of the ingredients themselves. Soooo good!

Strolling Castine

A friend once questioned why I would express melancholy or a bit of anguish or similar on a blog post. I wish I never had to do that. But I started out writing this more for me, and us, than I did for anyone else....so not expressing such things when I am feeling them to any degree seems like a personal injustice. Perhaps not a lie, but not-the-whole-truth. And I like to look back at my thoughts every bit as much as my pictures. In the pictures- memories. But in the thoughts and feelings- the history of the growth through the journey. There are mountains. There are valleys. Even when you live on the mountain there are times when you must pass through the valley. And if you find yourself dwelling in the valley, there are times when you must cross the mountain as well. Living on the plains between the two may be possible, but has never seemed totally appealing to me, so I suppose I must conclude that all of life's ups and downs are necessary...and not to be ignored.

We continue to be seemingly unable to escape the sadness of recent personal losses, but we are trying to get back our healthy and happy perspective as best we can. A stroll around the coastal Maine town of Castine seemed just the thing. If there is anything flat about Castine, I wouldn't be able to tell you what it is or where. The little league baseball field had to be nestled into the interior of the Fort that overlooks the scenic harbor- as I suppose it was the only parcel of level land, however small, that they could find. Main Street is hilly in all directions. "Being in shape" greatly benefits anyone walking around town- which, for the shopper in you- is more about real estate offices and less about souvenirs and basic merchandise. But the scenery is calming and spectacular and inspirational even for those in the distraction of the doldrums. Doldrums. A nautical term referencing "calm" and "directionless" befitting the situation as the winds of fate have seemingly stopped pushing us on a predictable course for the time being. There is only one thing to be done in the doldrums- wait. And try to find a way to enjoy the calm that comes before the exhilaration of the next wind.

It was a slow and deliberate stroll. There was not so much to see... as there were images to reflect upon:

Farewell To Abby The Wonderdog

The thing about dogs (and Abby was the best of the best of the dogs) - they love you unequivocally. The more love you give them, the more they have to return....and so it was in this household where Abby, and her sister before her, Carly, shared our space and our lives and our trials and our tribulations. The hole in our universe now that her time, their time has passed is huge. The day we knew had to...and would come...did. Abby's heart was still strong. Her eyes were still vital and alert, but the rest of her had pretty much shut down. The legs that needed to carry her up and down the stairs to the coach were failing fast. The ramp was no longer enough to carry her in and out. She had trouble standing up...and trouble getting back down. Pain, despite the doctor's remedies, was her constant companion. And this day it just became too much for everyone.

So Abby The Wonderdog is no longer on the road with us. Our journey will be longer and lonelier. But memories will be our new companion. Abby was born in Honduras and flew to America. Believe us, she was a LEGAL ALIEN. She accompanied us to 49 of the 50 states- (we all missed Hawaii) and three countries. She visited Alaska twice. She was cool, calm and collected in the presence of buffalo, elk, caribou, all manner of bears, even wolves and coyotes. German Shepherds? Not so much!

She never met a snack or a treat she didn't fully appreciate. Next to the first walk of the new morning, dinner time was her favorite time of day. She never protested being dressed up in ridiculous fashion for a blog post- wearing a pirate's three cornered hat, comes to mind...and I swear to you she loved putting those gigantic sun glasses on for our annual Christmas Card shot each year.

Somewhere tonight I hope and pray she is fine without us. Resting comfortably. Sniffing good smells. Sharing munchies with a friend. Barking only when necessary. Getting lots of pats from adoring fans. Wearing her signature scarves. Loving...and being loved. That was her specialty!

We hope to be OK again soon too. But not right now. And for sure- never the same....








And wrapping it up with images from Roatan, Honduras, where we lived for 5 years and which is the birth place of Abby and her twin sister Carly. If there is consolation in this day, it is that they are inseparable again in the afterlife as they were in life- chasing each other round and round and round a coconut palm there on our beach, or chasing the iguanas that usually managed to say out in front....or the yard chickens that usually didn't manage to stay out in front...or maybe just resting under the avocado tree munching their choice of select fruits of the day. They came into this world filled with love and they left it the same way they found it. If only we could all do as well.............